I Told You So
by CercandoUnaVoce
Summary: Sonny is the man that always complains and whines about everything, and that is why his teammates learned to ignore his gut feelings. But when Bravo team, full force after a long time, has to face an underwater mission, Sonny surprisingly happens to be right on something. The result? Clay is in trouble.
1. Chapter 1

_The thuds of Clay's heartbeats reverberated though his chest, gradually reducing their frequency. Stillness took posses of his senses as the greedy ocean took hold of everything that could keep him anchored to the reality._

_The dark water rapidly sucked the heat away from Clay's body and claimed his consciousness. The echoes of his wheezing resounded in his head, and his body had no choice but surrender to that lulling fluctuation._

_A tempting thought struck Clay like thunder, why not give in to the pain in his bones and muscles? Why not grant a little rest to his chest, fatigued by its duty to force that artificial air in his burning lungs?_

* * *

Prickly air tickled Clay's senses while his eyes searched for the moon, which, nearly full, glowed in a surprisingly clear sky. Clay slowed down and breathed full lungs while the quiet of the parking lot was in plain contrast to the storm that tangled his heart.

"I'll drive." Brock's voice took Clay's focus back to the external world.

The multitude of little stars mirrored in Sonny's dilated pupils, and a rapid glance at the rest of the team, made apparent why Brock and Jason should be the designated drivers for taking Bravo full force at the base as requested.

Their superiors would probably not be so pleased to find that particular sight before them, but the call of duty arrived on a Friday night, and when no operation was planned for the near future. Where do they think they would find the group of SEALs other than at their favorite bar?

"Alright boys, let's go!" Jason ordered.

Clay sneaked in the back-seat of Brock's truck without paying too much attention to his teammates' chats. As he expected, Trent occupied the front-seat, immediately allowing himself to take a speedy nap. Clay sighed, enjoying the quiet, something he would not have if he were in the car with his other three teammates, especially Sonny. With the alcohol in his system, Sonny would be louder and even more nosey than the usual.

During the 15 minutes drive, Clay absently stared out the car window, daydreaming about his first mission back with Bravo team after Manila's unfortunate events.

He was ready. The doctor cleared him for full active duty right the day before, and the Capitan approved his comeback to the tier one operator's team that same morning, so the order to report to the base couldn't come at a better time. But being so hurriedly thrown in the game without any warm-up didn't give Clay much space for mistakes, so maybe, the call couldn't come at a worse moment. His scrambled heart could not decide which one.

Clay's focus cut through his reflection on the glass to land on the concrete that run equal everywhere for miles before his sight. He had been waiting for that moment from the instant he got out of the OR and woke up in a hospital bed with his spaghetti leg. Clay was thrilled to say the least, but an odd feeling hovered in the air.

The instant Bravo stepped out of their trucks, the chilly air of the night slapped them on their faces, awakening their senses. Clay shook his head, shrugging off the state of concern he would never admit tangled him. He inhaled deeply, getting ready for the action, but they were still far from that point.

"Gear up," Blackburn ordered them as soon as they put a foot inside the base. "Meet on the plane in five."

Concerned looks crossed their faces, and only one thought buzzed around Clay's head; _what on Earth can be so urgent?_

The silence in the cages was so penetrating that the guys could almost hear each other's gears turning while they grabbed their supplies. Without any further explanation, they hopped on the plane, their direction, Kelantan, the Commander revealed.

A few moments after take-off, Blackburn gathered Bravo team together to give them the mission's details. "Alright, listen up."

"We're all ears," Jason said. "What's so urgent to make us depart for an operation with a 20 minute heads up only?"

"Yeah, to not talk about ruining the fun night," Sonny, a cowboy hat on his head, grinned.

"Well, some of you seem to be more action hungry than others." Blackburn turned to Clay. "Welcome back, Bravo Six."

A concert of whistles and clapping hands raised around Clay, who, restless hand on his sides, couldn't help but print a giant smile on his face.

"Alright, alright. Back to work now," Blackburn ordered, reciprocating his man's smirk. "If it's fun you're looking for, Sonny, I assure you you'll have it. This will be a real frogman mission," he proudly announced.

The following words, _underwater mission, _wiped out Sonny's grin. "Not again," he muttered.

Clay registered all the information his commander dug up while fatiguing to keep his excitement in check. The operation was all about a private contractor's ship which should not have been where it was and should not have on board the cargo it transported. Not even to say, the ship happened to sink right under the Chinese's noses just a few hours prior.

"I'm talking about highly classified, technological weapons, guys," Blackburn continued. "Bravo Team's mission will be to locate and secure the wreckage of the ship and make sure its cargo doesn't fall into our enemies' hands. All clear?"

"Yes, sir," someone said while someone else just quietly nodded. Anyways, the beaten up expressions on everyone's face suggested that all of them were dying for the license to go heal themselves from the half-hangover they were suffering.

_What a welcome back,_ Clay thought absent-mindedly. _A mission underwater..._ how odd, they didn't have those very often.

"Dismissed," Blackburn finally said, severely inspecting his men's appearances. "Rehydrate. Sleep. Make these hours fruitful."

The Commander didn't have to say it twice, and in no time, in the back of the plane, it could not be heard more than a bunch of frogmen snoring.

Clay laid in his hammock, eyes to the plane's ceiling and Sonny's insistent and heavy breaths in his ears. Clay's hand run down his right thigh, dwelling on the embossing of his scar. He would never admit it out loud, but Clay secretly feared some permanent damages that his doctor failed to notice.

But failing was not an option for him, not with lives at stake. And surely not with his brothers counting on him to cover their six.

"You okay, kid?" Jason settled in a seat next to Clay's position, awakening him from negative thoughts.

"Yeah." Clay cleared his voice. "I've become like an old man that feels the changes of the weather in his bones, but I couldn't be more ready to play in the sandbox again."

Jason chuckled, and then a more serious expression appeared on his face. An expectant silence hovered in the air, and Clay knew he couldn't escape 'the talk' now.

"I bet you didn't expect this on your very first day back on the job."

Adjusting his position, Clay rested a hand under the back of his head. "Leg is good." He glanced away, the last few months rapidly passing before his eyes. "Head is good."

"You know that you can always talk to me, right?"

Clay put a smirk on his face, his pride preventing him to fully open up with his boss. "I'm cleared for active duty, and I can't wait." He turned his head to directly face Jason. "I'm ready."

Jason insistently peered in Clay's eyes, but he easily sustained his boss' look. That wasn't a lie, Clay was dying to operate again, and more than anything, he was dying to prove to himself and his teammates he was still worthy of Bravo team.

"My only problem here is that the action can't come soon enough," Clay said. _Besides, when you fall, you just need to get back on the saddle, right?_ he repeated in his head, like to convince himself that path was the only possible one.

Jason got up and, peeking at his own hammock which waited for him in the distance, patted Clay on the shoulder.

That little talk with his boss was all Clay needed for his body to finally let go all the accumulated tension and his mind to set to the new mission. Resting his head on the hammock, Clay had absolutely nothing to fear - _wait, what fear?_ he was afraid of nothing, he was a frogman! - Clay had nothing to worry about; his brothers were there and had his back.

As for the rest of Bravo team, a few hours of sleep was all the nearly drunk sailors needed to regain their physical and mental strength. But awake once more, the long wait marked their faces with impatience, and their hands moved restlessly as if an itch tormented them.

It took the SEALs 18 endless hours to be able to put their feet on Malaysian soil. There, a thick atmosphere - more humid than in Virginia and surely hotter - greeted them.

"You have two minutes to stretch your legs," Blackburn said while his eyes guided their looks to a van at trackside.

_Stretch your legs_; Clay had never welcomed one of his Commander's advice with more relief.

Approaching the piece of rusty scrap their superior dared to call a functioning vehicle, Sonny raised his eyebrows. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, but in response, he received only cold stares.

Only eight minutes later, Bravo team was in the air again, in a chopper taking off from a private runway. Their destination was the USS Emerald, a military ship currently in the middle of the Pacific ocean. While wobbling for the vibrations of the metal bird, Clay enjoyed the air the rotor blaze moved. His teammates' body language was clear, the itch in their hands and the uncomfortable sensation of the growing restlessness of their legs started to take possession of their minds too.

They needed action.

About two hours later, Bravo members were breathing salty air on the deck of the ship. _Finally_, Clay could read on each one of his teammates' faces.

To beguile the time before Blackburn gave them the green light, the guys quickly studied the USS Emerald. It was not as big or as crowded as they expected, but that would not necessarily be a problem for them. At that point, they just hoped that was it, that their moment had come.

Bravo team's eyes glowed as soon as the ship's Captain introduced himself to them. _Action time!_ They all believed, but they were wrong. Their ordeal wasn't over yet.

The guys left Virginia Beach at 10 PM on a Friday night and arrived at their destination, some place they couldn't really name, at 8 AM on a Sunday morning. The journey took them 22 hours. What funny things time zones are. The numbers never add up, but they didn't stop to do the math. They were all too used to the jet leg, and they didn't have time to question their watches.

Action couldn't come soon enough.

On that cheerful morning of two days from their departure, Bravo team sailed a small but fast boat, riding the ripples of the calm ocean with the soft sun rays dancing on the water's surface. Cool breeze blew indefatigable from the Pacific ocean and tickled the SEAL's numb senses, wiping away the fatigue of that endless journey. The weight of that odyssey on their minds and bodies was heavier than any single member of the team would ever confess to each other.

Clay breathed the fresh air full lungs and tried to peer into the deep green and blue ocean. Instantaneously lost in that endless expanse of water, the abyss called for him. In it, Clay saw the blast, his slow recovery, the physical therapy sessions, and all the things that in the past few months led him to that moment.

"This should be the place," Brock said, slowing down the little ship's motor.

Clay's mind had wandered only for an instant, but now, he was ready for the next step. Never been more ready, actually.

The mission had officially begun. _It was about damn time_, was what everyone could read on the face of each and every member of Bravo team at that moment.

* * *

_**Author's note**__: I need to give a special thanks to LunasInSilver for helping me through the first phase of my writing. And even though I went through some major changes (a lot of them actually) from the first version she proofread, I would have not portrayed the characters this way without her suggestions._


	2. Chapter 2

With the action finally impending, Bravo members were fully equipped and all set to jump in the water. All except for Brock. The SEALs could not risk to be caught acting in forbidden waters, recovering a cargo which shouldn't be there in the first place, so Brock's task was to stay on watch on board in his plain clothes. If some curious stranger, Chinese or not, would cross his path, Brock would just play the tourist card and hope they would buy it.

Soft breeze and warm sun rays pleasantly caressed the guys' faces, the only portion of their skin not covered with the tight wetsuits.

"What's that face, Sonny?" Clay scoffed. "C'mon, man, the water doesn't look so bad."

Sonny shook his head in response. "This place doesn't even seem real."

"Are you seriously complaining we are in this postcard-like environment instead of operating in a place that smells like the rump of a horse?" Brock asked.

"Easy to say since you're the only one that will keep his clothes dry!"

Bravo all smiled. They all knew there was no chance that Sonny would exchange the action with the view, not for all the gold in the world. Sure thing, Clay wouldn't; his first mission back with the team could not be a standing-by performance. Thinking about it, maybe Brock's task wasn't the easiest one to overcome, taking a sunbath while his family was down there having fun in the ocean with all the risks connected.

_The time had come_. Clay imagined this moment for the last few months, and his comeback could not feel more natural. He threw a quick glance around to make sure his brothers were not staring; he already caught them in the act a few times since they left that bar in Virginia Beach. Since the way was clear, Clay closed his eyes for an instant and inhaled deeply. _One, two, three, four..._ He breathed out, trying to release some of the tension he accumulated.

Missions underwater were not so usual for Bravo Team. In Clay's assignment with them, they had very few actions actually performed in the depths of the ocean. How came that they proudly called themselves frogmen, and yet they dived deep in the desert much more often than into the water? That was a thing Clay hadn't really noticed before, but for some reason, he couldn't get it out of his head now. It was just pointing that this was his first mission back with the family.

"I got a gut feeling on this," Sonny kept repeating with his usual loud tone. "Somethin' ain't right, I'm tellin' you, guys."

Teasing and rolling eyes was how his teammates usually answered to Sonny's ranting, and this was not an exception.

_Well, to be honest, the last time we had any kind of a frogman mission, it didn't exactly go as planned_... Clay thought with Sonny's constant reminder in his ears. But the SEALs had more important things to think about other than Sonny's whines, and that was the imminent action. The dive; the retrieve; the clean up. It was all planned out in details.

Jason's focus was entirely on tying up loose ends. "There are no submarines here, nor torpedo tubes. Just a few wreckage to explore."

"That doesn't mean I can't find myself stuck somewhere with no oxygen in my lungs. Again!" Sonny objected.

"Don't worry, we won't let that happen again." Clay printed a grin on his face. "Believe me, Sonny, there is no chance we can live with the idea that you were right on something."

Bravo all laughed, including Sonny, who cracked a fake laugh and huffed to his mates.

"But remember my words, Golden Boy" -Sonny locked eyes with Clay, as if he was going to reveal to him the secret of all secrets- "if anything goes wrong down there, I told you so."

"Yeah, okay, Nostradamus," Jason intervened. "It's time to go down."

"It's time to shine," Clay smirked.

"It's time to shine!" Sonny repeated, a forced grin on his face while his eyes shifted from his brothers to stare at the deep ocean.

Bravo Team was ready, all geared up with rubber fins on their feet and full and heavy oxygen tanks on their shoulders. A quick exchange of looks and a nod to each other, the only way they would be able to communicate down there, and one by one, they put their masks on their faces and the regulators in their mouths.

The first to touch the water was Ray, shortly followed by Trent. As the two disappeared from his eyesight, Clay gave his shoulders to the ocean, adrenaline already starting to flow in his veins. With a little sign of encouragement from his boss, he allowed his body to fall backwards. Jason jumped in right after, but someone else still hesitated. Looking up to the clear water above his head, Clay could discern Sonny's figure looking down and Brock's shadow appearing at his back. Some teasing, Clay guessed, then a light prod, Clay could totally imagine the scene, and Sonny finally reached the rest of the team in the cool ocean.

* * *

The endless expanse of water muffled all the sounds around Bravo Team. One minute into the dive, and the silence down there became audible, even dreadful, a not well-trained diver would may say, but not Clay. He waited too long to be back in action, and nothing could stop him now that he was exactly where he was born to be.

The first step of the mission was to explore the seabed and find the wrecks. Even though the USS Emerald had previously mapped those waters with sonar, Bravo would not anchor their boat right above the exact location of their objective, it would be too suspicious to any hostile eye.

"I guess we are going out for a swim," Jason had said, to Sonny's extreme dismay, when Blackburn and the ship's Captain explained their plan to them.

Now that they were actually down there, the guys started to take separate paths to better scan the area and detect their objective sooner. An eye on each other's position and another to the ocean's floor, every single one of them fully committed to the search in order to complete the mission as soon as possible and start the endless journey back home.

The deeper they dived, the more the ocean sucked away all the plain light and heat provided by the morning sun. The further away they went, the more Sonny's words -_something ain't right_\- resounded in the back of Clay's head.

After swimming about a mile and a half from Brock and the boat while diving deeper into the increasingly cold water, the frogmen finally spotted the remains of the ship they were looking for. It was peacefully lying on its side on the seabed only a few feet from a much deeper abyss. The thing was a medium size vessel with a big hole in the hull. How that could have happened was not clear to Bravo eyes. There was nothing natural in that damn crack that caused the ship to sink, but their mission was not to investigate the cause, and they didn't have time to play detectives.

Once they got to their objective, the sign Jason made to his team was clear, _Trent, you are on watch. The rest of you, with me. We're going in. _Bravo was such a well-oiled machine that words weren't even needed, and they all quickly did as their boss silently commanded.

Two minutes into the search, and they had already found what they were looking for. The two cases of weapons were still there and fortunately, still well sealed.

The unimpressed look on Sonny's face was clear to everyone, _that's it?_ it said. Clay answered with a shrug while lifting an end of the first case and waiting for his friend to do the same to help him take the thing out. As soon as Sonny decided to move, Ray and Jason took the other case, and the four of them started swimming out the wrecked ship. The creepy sound of the metal walls creaking under the water pressure resounded in the silence of the ocean, and once again, Sonny's eyes communicated with Clay loud and clear. _We need to move faster_, their message was.

Clay was the first one to peek his head out, drawing Trent's attention. Their teammate promptly swam to them, helping them exit the cramped entrance to the under deck.

The next part of the operation should have been a simple cleaning session. Ray and Trent would swim up with the cases and send the signal to Brock to bring there the boat and recover them. In the mean time, the other three would have a little more fun playing in the water. Jason would do a last, quick recon to make sure they forgot nothing important inside the ship before they could declare the place clear. Simultaneously, the demolition expert Sonny and his little apprentice Clay -like with all his annoyance Sonny had called him when they defined their roles in the mission- would place the payloads, for, precisely, give a cleanup to the ocean's floor. And then, the whole team would take the ride out of there as quick as possible, enjoying the fireworks.

But Ray and Trent could not swim more than a few feet up, nor their three teammates could go back in the wrecks that a spear passed by Sonny's leg, almost scratching his wetsuit. The thing quickly went sticking in the ship's hull, causing vibration to propagate in the water. Once again, Sonny's look was clear to anyone who would cross it; _I told you that something would go wrong, _it practically yelled.

The five SEALs turned in unison toward the direction the spear came from. There, two divers were swimming toward them, spear-guns in their hands. _Chinese,_ Clay thought, judging by their equipment. _How the hell did they find out about this so fast? _Was the question he and Jason exchanged with a look. And then, another shot passed above their heads, suggesting to them it was about time to fight back.

First thing, the weapons they recovered had to be taken to safety. That was the whole point of the mission. Jason signed to Ray and Trent to take their case and start swimming away. The mutinous look the two gave Jason in return was a '_no way we're leaving you alone in this'_ look, but it lasted only the fraction of a second because the fight was starting, and they didn't have the time to argue with their boss.

With their objection noted, but not welcomed, Ray and Trent started swimming away with the precious cargo, heads straight up. Instantly, their teammates' focus cut thought the dark water to land on the rapidly approaching divers. Flashlights underlining their path, the two aimed to the weapon cases, but Bravo Team had no intention of letting them succeed. A knowing look crossed their eyes, _three against two, it should be an easy fight this time_.

Clay unconsciously grinned, his eyes brightening, _I'm going one on one_, he communicated to his teammates with an eloquent gesture. His boss' slight nod was all Clay needed to start diving toward the danger, his two mates right at his side.

_I got this. You'll see I'm still worthy of Bravo,_ Clay thought. _Just make it quick_, _before their backup is here_.

Jason was the first one to engage. Clay passed by him and his opponent, his eyes fixed on the second diver who was aiming his spear-gun up. The man shot. The spear missed Clays' arm by a few inches. Clay's first thought went to his teammates. Jace and Sonny were both hooked to pull a knife out of the Chinese's hands. Target missed.

When Clay turned back down, the man was aiming again. _Not so fast!_ Clay grabbed the spear-gun. Connected to the metal, they frantically kicked their finned legs, eyes locked fiercely. Clay planted his foot on the other man's chest and made leverage on the weapon, but the man reacted with unexpected force causing the spear-gun to hit Clay's face and almost making him lose his regulator. Neither of them could strike a decent blow, but with that last action, they both lost their grip, and the weapon sank into the abyss.

Clay growled, those echoing sounds thumping in his head while the Chinese got back on offense, a knife in his hands. Clay diverted a hit and grabbed for the other guy's face, yanking his mask out of place. Air bubble accompanied the man's retreat, and Clay's attention shifted to his teammates, just then succeeding in stunning their opponent.

As their eyes met, Clay signaled them to begin their ascent. He moved to follow them up, but a sudden pain in his arm warned him that his battle wasn't over. The damn guy was back, his knife retrieved. Red stained the water around and clouded their vision for an instant. Clay's hand reached out for his calf sheath, but the man grabbed his wrist. With his free arm, Clay ward off another attack and grasped for the Chinese forearm.

Engaged in that embrace, Clay started swimming down and pushed the man against the sank ship's hull. The wrecks trembled, the man's knife landed on the seabed, raising sand. The Chinese threw a punch; Clay easily dodged it. Their eyes locked, they both knew each other's next step. The man aimed a knee to Clay's left tight; the water cushioned the hit, but Clay winched. That little hesitation was enough for the other to tear himself free and launch himself to the knife. Clay did the same, but the other guy was faster.

Fins in the sand, the man sank the knife toward Clay's chest. Diverting the hit, Clay found himself to the guy's back and clamped him in a chokehold. The Chinese rebelled, his free hand clawing Clay's arm. His elbow aimed to hit Clay's stomach, and suddenly the knife was out of sight.

An eye up toward his unaware teammates, Clay grabbed the man's regulator, but his opponent had the mouthpiece gripped so hard between his teeth that Clay couldn't get it free. The man's scuba tank pressed against Clay's chest; breathing became hard for him either, but he kept tightening the hold.

_C'mon, man!_ Clay thought while the fatigue started to get on him. He felt the other losing strength, but a second before Clay could send him to sleep, the guy found unexpected energy and cut Clay's oxygen hose.

Clay had only one chance left, swim for his life.


	3. Chapter 3

A multitude of bubbles clouded the water all around. Clay's eyes widened while his frogman training kicked in. _Hold your breath. Neutralize the threat, _he repeated to himself like a mantra. Clay's arm ached, his chest, still pressed against the enemy's oxygen tank, fought to hold his last breath.

Eyes lost in the endless expanse of water, Clay tightened the chokehold on the guy. _Hook the calm,_ Clay ordered himself. His teammates' figures got smaller every second, swimming up and east from his position. For the fraction of a second, he was again in that hospital bed, waking up in America after being took out in Manila. That thought disoriented his mind, that solitude stroke his heart.

_Don't lose yourself_, Clay reacted.

The last time he met Jason and Sonny's looks, pride shone through. Clay was back in action like if he had never left. His brothers trusted him, and that was why they didn't look back in the last minute or so. But in one tiny minute everything changed.

Sonny's words resounded in Clay's mind. _I told you so._ But Sonny could not be right on this. He wouldn't let Sonny be right on this. As soon as he felt his enemy's body abandoning to his contrived embrace, Clay let him loose. With no time to turn back and check on the man's state of consciousness, Clay started to speedily arise before losing himself due to the lack of oxygen.

_Ascend. Not too fast. Not too slow. Keep hooking the calm._ Clay threw away his now useless regulator and started a race against the time to reach the surface.

The flow of little boils escaping from the cut tube accompanied his ascent. Barely able to glance down to make sure the other man was not at his back ready to stab him to death, Clay aimed at the light above his head.

_Trust your training. Trust your body._ His ears rang and his chest ached, but Clay could not stop. On the edge of his vision, Jason and Sonny did. Clay could not discern their expressions, but he could sense the cold crossing their souls. They started swimming back to him, but Clay continued on his path. The clock was ticking; Clay's head felt light, he could not wait for them to share their tank with him. In his mind, there only was the sunlight that slowly guided him toward the surface.

His vision blurred, but Clay kept swimming. If he stopped it was over. With the comforting thought that his brothers had his back, he kept rising, gradually letting his lungs empty to compensate for the change in pressure.

The light became brighter, the water clearer; he was almost there. The pressure the water put on his chest had considerably decreased, and Clay could now fight to keep inside his burning lungs the little oxygen he still had. Those little traces of air were essential for him to reach the surface.

All of a sudden, the insistent breeze of the ocean slapped Clay's face. Finally and with a loud gasp, he could fill his lungs with oxygen again, the cool air etching his throat. With his vision still troubled, he glanced around, finding himself alone. His ascent was so rapid that Jason and Sonny could not keep up with him, and the boat with the rest of the team was nowhere in sight.

Still panting loudly and with his sense of direction lost, Clay blinked to regain control on his functions, but a twitch took posses of his leg. The stinging pain took him by surprise, and he felt himself going down.

Clay was fighting with his own body when, suddenly, a warm contact calmed his troubles. A strong grip held his arms, and he was pulled up to the surface again. The oxygen made his way into Clay's mouth, nostrils and lungs, which till a moment prior he struggled to keep empty of water.

"Easy, buddy. Easy," Trent said, his grip still firm on his younger mate's arms.

His chest in flames, Clay slowly acknowledged the situation. While he was battling for his life, Trent and Ray reached Brock, who drove the boat toward his teammates' position to recover them in case they needed any help. And hell, Clay sure needed help. His brothers fished him out right before it was too late.

"You okay, kid?" Jason asked, rising from the waters with Sonny at his side.

Clay could only nod, still panting and softly gasping for air.

Bravo rallied around their youngest member, apprehensive looks on their faces. Water splashed around on the boat's floor as they helped him on board. Brock waited until his teammates were all in, only then he could sail Bravo back to the USS Emerald.

"You had a pretty rough time down there, didn't you?" Jason patted Clay, like a father rubbing his son's back. "You sure you're alright?" he continued, glancing at the cut tube and at the wound on his man's arm.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Clay smirked, contradicting his grateful glance toward the brothers who drag his ass up before he could drown.

"I'll give you a full checkup as soon as we rich the ship," Trent said. "And you'll probably need a couple stitches there," he continued, pointing at his arm. "I'll take care of it. Unless you want Sonny to patch you up so then you can have a much bigger scar for your show and tell nights." Trent cracked a grin.

"Well, it would be a wonderful scar!" Sonny grinned too, but everyone knew what he really wanted to say.

A muffled laugh escaped the fatigued Clay, who opened his mouth to oppose to Trent's words, but a reproaching look confined him to silence. _That's not an open discussion,_ Clay read in Trent's eyes.

* * *

Clay rested on the boat's floor, sustaining his teammates -not so hidden- apprehensive peeks at him. The sky was clear, the ocean was flat, only a light breeze pleasantly played with the SEAL's hair on their way back to the USS Emerald. If only they were there to enjoy the atmosphere and the view, that would be a perfect day -aside from Clay nearly dying. But they were still on a mission. A mission they partially failed to achieve.

As soon as Bravo Team stepped on the ship, Commander Blackburn loomed before them, waiting to hear what went wrong.

"We retrieved the weapons," Jason said, "but we had guests to the party and had to delay the cleaning."

"Chinese?" Blackburn asked.

"We were there first, but those assholes had to engage anyway." Sonny shook his head, and threw a quick glance at Clay, which was standing beside him holding his arm.

"You okay?" Blackburn scanned all of them, his eyes stopping on Clay's wounded arm.

Clay smirked. "Just a scratch."

"Let me check on him. Before you'll say 'listen up' we'll be ready to come back and blow up the thing," Trent said.

"Not so fast. You guys can't go back down this soon. And you know that. Eat something. Get some rest. You're going back there with the favor of the moonlight." Blackburn ordered them.

The Commander didn't have to say it twice. But before the guys could head to the ship's cafeteria, Trent forced Clay to have the checkup he promised him.

"I'm fine," Clay said while his older mate insistently analyzed his body. "And I'm hungry."

"Yeah, I bet it. After the little adventure you had..." Sonny peaked from behind the infirmary door, all dry and clean.

Clay huffed, the footsteps of his brothers walking back and forth the corridor resounded in the air. "Guys, you really don't need to stay there. I'm-"

"Fine," they all said in unison, causing Trent to chuckle.

"No, this time the kid's right. Precede us to the cafeteria," Trent reassured them. "I'll just need to patch him up, then we'll get rid of the wetsuits, and meet you there. You know, I'm hungry too."

As their teammates' footsteps were anymore audible, Trent took needle and thread in his hands. "Lidocaine?"

"I'm good," Clay firmly said. "Just do the job."

"Arm," Trent ordered, a smirk on his face.

_I would bet it_, Clay could read in his mate's look while he ignored the statement and proceeded with the injection of anesthetic. As Trent's inserted the needle into Clay's flesh Clay had to grit his teeth and hold his breath.

Lost in thought and with the lidocain in his system, Clay didn't even acknowledged Trent stitching his arm. He had been in the job long enough now to be used to risk his life every day, but getting so close to the inevitable this soon after-

"Done!" Trent interrupted Clay's stream of thoughts. "Let's go get changed."

At those words, Clay jumped down the table.

"How's the leg?" Trent scanned him. Clay's leg hinting to fail him didn't pass unnoticed.

"Fine," Clay hurried back. "Great." He made a couple of little jumps.

Trent looked him severely.

"Come on, I'm-"

Trent kept staring.

"Alright. It feels a little weird, but it functions perfectly. " Clay locked eyes with Trent till he nodded slightly, by then the weight of their wet clothes was starting to seriously bother the both of them.

* * *

Bravo Team clamped around a little table in the ship's cafeteria. After the little scare they had that morning, the atmosphere was comfortable, allowing them to eat their rations while casually chatting. None of them lost the occasion to mock the youngest among them on how he almost lost the fight with that damn Chinese, but Clay didn't pay much attention to them.

"What's wrong, kid?" Jason asked, glancing at the full plate in front of his teammate. "The food is not to your liking?"

Before he could say anything in response, Clay was caught by a coughing fit.

"Oh, poor delicate flower! Did you get a cold or something down there?" Sonny scoffed before having the chance to swallow his last bite.

Clay coughed another couple of times before being able to reply. "I'm fine, I'm not the one who complained about the freezing water all the time."

"Well, I had a good reason! And for exactly the same motive I don't wanna share my cabin with a flea dog," Sonny said, then turned to Trent, concern appearing on their faces despite the relaxed atmosphere all around.

"I'm fine!" Clay assured, feeling all the looks on him. His teammates didn't have to say a thing, their insistent stares were clear enough. _Are you sure?_ they asked.

"I must have choked on something, that's it." Clay tried to convince his friends that the statement was true. Subconsciously, he knew it could be something more serious, but he refused to believe it. After all, he stopped coughing now, and the tiredness he felt could be easily blamed on the swim added to the infinite journey they faced to come there. And maybe, even though he hated to admit it, he was still not in the perfect shape after all those months with rehab and sitting back at home...

"So it's your pride that took the worst hit?" Trent insisted.

"My pride is fine! Stop worrying for me!"

"Of course it is! It takes more than that to stop this smart-ass here, right?" Jason said, putting an hand on Clay's shoulder, his look saying, _it better be true, kid_.  
"Anyways, guys, it's time to go to bed now. We still have a job to do tonight, and I don't want any of you to handle explosives with a lack of sleep."

_Sleep, that sounds good_, Clay thought.

"You not coming?" Sonny asked, diverting Clay's attention from his half-eaten ration.

_Sleep is more than good_, Clay thought, asking himself how he didn't notice his brothers getting up and starting out the room. Clay got up too. With his movements slowed down and Sonny appraising-eyes on him, Clay started to ask himself if his comeback on Bravo was not too hasty.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Author's note_**_: __I keep forgetting that the SEALs belong to the Navy and not to the Army, so I thought I could remind it myself putting Bravo on a ship and having them swimming and diving a little. The whole Bravo, because I love their team dynamics, and writing about those. I hope I'm doing it right._

_But now, let's see what is wrong with Clay..._

* * *

Bravo moved through the small ship's corridors, their jokes and chats resounded in the air as they aimed for their cabins. Realizing he was alone in the cafeteria, Clay stopped dwelling, thrashed his leftovers, and headed strictly to his bunk. The upper one, naturally; the one right above Sonny's head.

_It must not be as nasty as it seems to lay on that uncomfortable mattress_, Clay repeated to himself, trying to climb up. He gritted his teeth, frustration mounting in him. _Not that easy, though_. Pain crossed his body from his leg to his torso. He had to stop and breathe, being more tired than he would ever admit in front of his mates.

Sonny stared silent, weighing it.

"What's up, grandpa? Having trouble getting upstairs?" He just couldn't waste the occasion to mock his brother.

"These things are not designed for big men," Clay grunted, trying to cover up his fatigue. "Next time I'll take the lower one." At the end, he succeeded in landing on his spot.

Sonny hesitated, tilting his head. "Nah! No way. I still outrank you, and my shoulders are bigger than yours. Not a chance you get to decide, boy."

"Your ass is certainly bigger!" Clay scoffed, suffocating a cough.

"And your mouth bigger than your brain," Sonny shot back, disappearing in his bunk, chuckling softly.

Clay tried to relax on the thin mattress, but his muscles were restless. That little swim they just had affected him badly. He was not as fit as he should be, and that seriously bothered him. Sure thing, he had no intention to say out loud in front of Sonny, or any to other Bravo, that his own body threatened to betray him. That it threatened to betray _them_ _all_.

Laid there with his eyes up to the ship's grey ceiling, it was hard to think, like if the sleep had already started to take posses of him. But yet, he was too tired to actually lose himself to the dreamland. Months of rehab or not, Clay was still a frogman, and a couple miles diving in the cold ocean should not make him feel that thrashed.

_A nap it's all I need_. _When I wake up, I'll be perfectly capable to go back down there,_ _blow up everything_, _and prove myself to the guys_, he said to himself, eyes well closed.

His first mission back could not be a failure. He could not fail his brothers, that was what kept Clay going toward the last few months stuck back home. All he dreamed about since he was took out by that blast was stepping back on the saddle, operating again. All he desired since the minute he was airlifted back to the States and away from his Team was going back to operate with Bravo.

At the thought of his brothers were right here for him, Clay felt the warmth of a family penetrating his bones. He relieved in an heavy sight and abandoned himself to that warmth, but a sudden coldness struck him.

_Clay felt a force dragging his body away, and the image of his team slowly faded. His lungs filled with water and he could not breath anymore._

A constriction pain hit his chest, and his eyes popped open in a gasp. He was not on the mainland, but he wasn't immersed in the ocean either. The hard bunk under him. The sterile ceiling above him. That was all he got, aside from Sonny's reassuring snoring coming from below him.

Clay let out a little cough, tossing around to find a more comfortable position. But he found none. He tried to inhale deeply, but the air stopped halfway in, and he had to fight to not start coughing loudly, awakening his sleeping brother. His mind was still not completely awake, and he blamed his trouble breathing to the little nightmare he just had. _That's how trauma works, _he forced himself to admit. _You had enough already to understand them._

Another sudden twinge hit his chest. This time, Clay could not be sure it was a physical problem. The fear of failing his brothers was still there, but there was also the confidence his team would never leave him alone. With that conviction, he slowly drifted in the dreamland again.

_Cold water all around him. No one there. A single beam of light coming from the heights. Once again, Clay was in the middle of the ocean. _

_A deafening silence. A soft, fluffy word around him. The currents sending him adrift._

_Clay started moving around, aimlessly. He was diving but without a wetsuit. He was swimming in the depths without a regulator or an oxygen tank. Why didn't he need those? How could he breath underwater? _

_He couldn't. Or could he?_

Clay's muscles contracted in his sleep while his mind was held hostage by that dream. That was the way his subconscious was trying to warn him something wasn't right with his body. But he couldn't understand.

* * *

With the non-existent mattress under his back and the stuffy air penetrating his nostrils, Sonny started to come to himself after a restless sleep. He blinked while his brain took stock of where he was . _Yes, the stupid ship_, he acknowledged. Then his eyes laid on Clay. He was standing at the center of their cabin, scratching his torso.

Sonny got up from his bunk. _Something ain't right with him,_ he immediately thought, facing his pale and sleepy brother. "I say you should go get checked at the infirmary, Clay."

"Oh, come on, I'm fine." Clay visibly fatigued to hold back yet another cough while taking off his shirt. He kept obstinately repeating that he had a troubled sleep and that was all. His words were clear, but his appearance and his broken voice were even more, saying the opposite.

Sonny insisted while getting dressed, "Well, you didn't let me sleep a wink, and that would be a good enough reason to get checked."

"So who was that have been snoring loudly down there all the time?" Clay put a grin on his peaked face in a failed attempt to cover for a slight loss of balance.

Sonny hinted a move toward him, but his intervention was not necessary. From a distance, he carefully scanned Clay's back. "Wait, what's that?"

"What's what?" Clay looked back at him, eyebrow raised.

"The rash." Sonny cautiously touched Clay's skin. "How long have you had that?"

Clay shrugged, an out-look on his face while glancing down to his bare chest, all dotted and reddened by his scratches. Confusion suddenly shone through his eyes.

"Hey! Trent!" Sonny called out, sneaking his head out of the cabin. That was not a good sign, he always knew something would go wrong with that mission. He did tell them, but they didn't listen.

"What's wrong this time, Sonny?" Trend approached, wearing an annoyed grin. "Did you break a nail?"

Sonny's serious expression instantaneously wiped off the smirk from Trent's face.

"Take a look at this," he said, grabbing Clay for his shoulders and putting him right in front of Trent. At that point, Clay didn't even try to oppose to that movement; he sensed that something wasn't right, too. _No_, Sonny thought, puppet Clay definitely wasn't a good sign.

Clay fought to not start coughing again, unsuccessfully, while worried looks cracked his teammates' faces.

"Decompression symptoms?" he dared to say between a cough and another.

"C'mon, Clay! You should know this is serious!" Trent stated, causing Sonny to flinch. He feared it could be that, but hearing it said out loud was like a punch in the stomach.

"Why did you not say anything?" Trent made his slightly disoriented mate sit on Sonny's bunk and started checking on his pupils.

"I didn't realize," Clay coldly said, his look still lost while letting Trent check on him.

An unreal silence filled the cabin, and Sonny kept a severe gaze firm on the both of them. "You didn't realize?" he said, breaking that dreadful atmosphere. _How could he not realize a thing that serious? _Sonny thought, his heart pounding while waiting for Trent's definitive verdict.

Clay coughed again. "I thought it would resolve by itself."

"Stupid wiseass! You know perfectly well that decompression syndrome doesn't go away on its own!" Trent motioned him to come with him to the infirmary. "Come on, you need oxygen. Now."

"I felt only a little out... I thought..." Clay babbled, his eyes wondering around.

Trent sighed, exchanging a concerned look with Sonny. He started whispering, "Confusion is another symptom. How could we not notice?"

Sonny swallowed, cold sweat appearing on his forehead. It was him who shared the cabin with Clay. He should have been the first one to notice something. That acknowledgment tormented him. _But this is not the time for regrets, it's time to fix things_, he thought, staring at his little brother. _And I noticed that in time, didn't I?_ he frowned.

When Clay didn't get up, Sonny reached his hand out for him, helping him on his feet. His stability was still not the best, but Clay silently insisted to walk on his own.

They followed Trent out of the cabin, but halfway to their destination, Clay swung and had to grab the wall to not fall to the ground.

"Hey, oh! Easy, buddy." Sonny promptly reached him and tried to help him stand, but again, Clay stubbornly rejected his touch.

"You okay?" Genuine concern shone through Sonny's voice while he still had his hands portended toward his young mate.

"I'm fine." Clay resumed slowly walking toward the infirmary while Trent's look shifted from severe to alarmed in no time.

Sonny swallowed again. _I told you! I told you something wasn't right with this stupid mission!_

* * *

The atmosphere could be cut with a knife with Bravo members all reunited outside the infirmary, an eye fixed on their suffering brother through the only entrance to the room, a little door left slightly open precisely for that scope.

Clay was inside all alone, semi-laid down on the hard table, an oxygen mask on his ghostly face.

"What's wrong?" Jason crossed his arms. "What happened to the Kid?" he asked, eyes nailed to the small entrance. _Don't say what I think you will say,_ he silently begged.

Trent didn't immediately look at him, instead, he turned to Sonny. "Go in with him." He made a sign with his head pointing at the inside of the room. "Keep him calm; make sure he doesn't take the mask off or move around."

Sonny nodded and reached Clay inside while the concern on the rest of Bravo Team's faces grew more visible. Even Blackburn, despite being the one who could hide his real feelings better than the others, let shone something through his look. Trent's contracted expression was making their impatience stood out.

"Trent." Jason claimed his teammate's attention.

"It's decompression syndrome, Jace," Trent finally explained. "When that damn Chinese cut his oxygen line, Clay had to ascend too rapidly, and this is the result."

Jason hold back a grunt, glaring up to the ship's ceiling to avoid to see the helpless expression appearing on Ray and Brock's faces.

_This is serious_, they could read in each other's eyes. _How could we not notice it sooner?_ Was what appeared on their faces a second later.

Blackburn asked, "What's the best course of action?"

_Right_. _No time to waste, _was the meaning of the guys' silent stares now.

"Administering him some oxygen is all we can do here. He needs a decompression chamber. And soon." Trent's strict tone while confirming their fears made Jason's chest clench.

"You don't have one on the ship?" Jason asked to the medical officer that was standing beside Trent, confirming his diagnosis.

The young man shook his head, "This is not such a big ship I'm afraid, but I already called for the MEDEVAC." From his trembling voice and his hesitant look it was clear to all that he never had any serious emergency to deal with since he took service as an on board medic.

"Airlift?" Blackburn intervened. "We don't have any other option?"

Trent stood silent and still. That was a sound _no, _even if it was not spoke out loud.

_Airlift_. Jason's mind flew back to Manila, and to Blackburn telling them Clay had been already airlifted home without giving them the chance to see him. _This time will be different_, Jason thought. This time they would not let him go without showing him their full support.

"Not that it's a great option either, with the consequent change in pressure a flight means, but it's all we have..." the medical officer continued, the uncertainty in his voice penetrating under the SEALs' skin. "The MEDEVAC should be here in less than two hours."

"Two hours?" Jason repeated, then glanced again inside the infirmary. "Do we have all that time?"

Trent mimed his boss, turning to their young teammate. He took a deep breath, and said, "If his symptoms don't change? Barely."

"Can't we do something? Can't we turn the ship back and meet them halfway?" Jason suggested, his tone clear. They _needed_ to act.

"I'll do what I can," Blackburn said, heading to speak with the ship's Capitan.

All eyes converged on him, the guys strict looks yelling, _don't try, do something!_

"I'll find a way," the Commander nodded before leaving them.

Heavy sighs resounded in the corridor, a dreadful atmosphere hovered in the air. Clay just came back to Bravo, and now they already risked to lose him. For good. And that was just because they failed to watch his back.


	5. Chapter 5

Clay's smothered coughs resounded through the plastic mask. Cold and pain hit him strongly, and a desolating atmosphere hovered in the air while his fingers clumsily moved to give some relief to the hitch afflicting his burning chest.

Laid on the uncomfortable table, Clay kept forcefully breathing the sterile air, and his eyes wandered around. On his left side, he had another bed; on his right, there was the oxygen tank, placed right next to an IV pole with a bag full of a clear liquid on the top of it. At the end of the room, there was a little still desk, and all around were metallic walls. There wasn't much more in there that could keep Clay anchored to the present. Not even a single window, but only a little door leading his eyes directly to his brothers gathered outside.

_That's not odd, you're on a freaking ship_, Clay said to himself. His sore eyes kept wondering until they laid on the ajar entrance.

A shiver crossed his body, cool sweat kept rolling down his back. A squeak resounded, and Sonny appeared at the edge of Clay's vision. The bitter sense of solitude slowly faded.

Confused or not, Sonny's forced smile didn't fool Clay. His brother's eyes were too expressive, letting shine through all the apprehension tangling his heart. _Sonny never had a good poker face... _

_Wait... what's he tryin' to hide?_ _What am I missing?_ Clay's abdominal muscle contracted in an attempt to get up, but Sonny gently laid a hand on his chest, keeping him down.

"Easy, Sleeping Beauty," Sonny said in an unusual gentle tone. "Keep your blond locks on the pillow."

Clay blinked, lips pursed. It was daring for Sonny to call that thing a pillow, but anyway Clay had not much choice but resting on it. With plastic covering the majority of his face and pure oxygen filling his lungs, he bypassed Sonny's figure and kept trying to peek at his teammates talking dense with the medical on-board officer right outside the room.

_Why do they appear so concerned?_ Clay asked himself. The sensation he was missing something -something important- stroke him.

Bravo was clearly discussing a plan of action, and Clay had nothing to say in the matter. He could bear the physical pain he was struggling with at the moment, what he couldn't bear was to be left out of the decision-making process. Clay thought his teammates trusted his judgment, that they trusted his opinion. Did the things change while he was on medical leave?

All that speaking under their breath was not helping Clay hooking his calm, and he continuously tried to get up and better hear their words. He eavesdropped something about airlift and hyperbaric chambers; they were complaining about the nearest equipped hospitals not being that near at all. Clay managed to get all that until Sonny placed his muscled body in the way, preventing him to see the rest of the team anymore.

"Relax, Clay. We got you, buddy." Sonny's best try to keep his temper under control and reassure him was making things even worse for Clay.

"Just breathe in the mask. We'll take care of the rest," Sonny continued. "You'll be just fine."

_That's it? Thoughtful words? No jokes? No jerking me around?_ Clay shivered.

Sonny's look matched Clay's, and he immediately got lost in his mate's deep blue eyes. In them, Clay saw the ocean, and suddenly, he was lost in the depths all over again. Dreadful coldness spread to Clay's bones until the warmth of Sonny's eyes reached his heart. Clay pulled from his bother the strength to snap out of that state before the nightmares came to haunt him once more. That, he had to admit, was not the first time the freezing ocean came to claim his soul. Clay was feeling sick since the night before. He has been feeling that dread all night, and yet, he fought with himself to not admit that.

"I- not-" Clay bubbled. His body shaking, he put his weight on his elbows, using them as leverage to get up. "I not need hypertonic chamber."

Sonny's eyebrow scrunched together; panic rapidly built up in Clay.

"I'm sorry, bud; I don't understand you under that thing." Sonny thoughtfully pushed his brother back to lean on the table, the warmth of his hand on Clay's heart helping to keep his heartbeat under control.

Clay put his hand on the mask, lowering it on his chin. "I won't see hyperbaric charter," Clay tried to repeat.

_No, that's not what I wanted to say!_ Clay panted heavily and rapidly. _I don't need a hyperbaric chamber_, that was what he was trying to say. His heart started beating out of his chest. _Why can't I say it?_ _Why..._

Clay gasped, the pain in his muscles sharpening. He matched confused eyes with Sonny, who helped him put the oxygen mask back in its place. Clay was not nearly as good as he believed. As he hoped. And suddenly, he was back in the hospital room that was his home for weeks after the bombing. He was back to the fear he would never operate again. Back to the concern his body could fail him. To the fear he could fail his brothers.

"I-" Clay grabbed for Sonny's sleeve.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay, Clay. Just breath in the thing." Sonny locked eyes with him, a warm hand holding an icy one. Concern shown through and fed Clay's confusion.

"Why can't I spill... spin..." Clay took off the mask again, coughing. "I not... speak... my mind." He tightened the grab on Sonny while every muscle in his body contracted.

"Hey, no! You need to wear that, come on." Sonny once again made him put the oxygen mask back in its place. "You need to focus on your breath now. Just breathe."

Clay's eyes widened, the room started to spin. He didn't even want to blink at that point, he knew that if he closed his eyes, the exhaustion would have the best of him.

"Just like that, keep breathing." Sonny glanced at the door, then looked back at Clay. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Clay nodded, gritting his teeth. _Come on, Clay, don't act like a baby, you're a frogman._

"Do not move, and do not take the thing off again," Sonny continued. "You understood me, Blondie?"

Clay rested on the hard, thin pillow, trying to control his coughs while feeling the urge to scratch his chest. His head tilted to his right to follow his brother's muscled figure getting out of the room. He sharpened eyes and ears, trying to peer through the bubble surrounding him, and witnessed Sonny drawing his teammates' attention.

Breathing was harder every minute. Thinking clearly had become impossible. Controlling his nerves had never been so arduous. But he needed to know what his brothers were talking about.

At the end, Clay didn't have to strive himself that much, his teammates body language was clear enough while reacting to what Sonny had to say. _Time was up for him_. Clay didn't grasp his friends' exact words, but he could imagine them and surely feel them true.

The clock was ticking. The symptoms were aggravating, Clay's chest was aching almost like when he took that round in the plate in Mumbai and his heart had stopped. He needed to move but couldn't, and the oxygen therapy was not of much use.

Clay closed his eyes for an instant, clenching and unclenching his fists to stay hooked to the reality. The obscure presence of the ocean was always in the back of his mind. That dread was constantly hovering around his heart.

* * *

Sonny snaked out of the infirmary to meet the rest of Bravo. As soon as he was out the door, he speeded up his pace a little. Jason met his look, nothing good in it.

"Guys, we have no time," Sonny said, his eyes yelling louder than his voice.

They all turned to the infirmary door in unison. Even under the mask, they could see Clay was ghost-white, even bluish, and was fatiguing to keep his eyes open.

Trent opened his mouth before the young on-board doctor could ask the same questions. "What happened? What changed?"

"He's talking nonsensical." Sonny glanced back inside the room, then looked up to the men standing in front of him. "I mean not like he always does, he is confused. Never seen him so lost. That's real. He can't even get a sentence out straight."

The medical officer turned white, quite as much as his patient. That didn't bode anything good.

"No, we have no time," Trent stated, sounding resolute like if he had a plan in his mind.

"What do we do?" Jason asked while the trembling medical officer got in to take a closer look at Clay's newest symptoms.

Trent folded his arm and looked his boss in the eyes. "We take him back under."

"You mean you wanna take him back in that freezing water with no other than a wetsuit and an oxygen tank?" Sonny's voice grew acute, his eyes narrowing.

"The depth of the ocean should work just like a decompression chamber, alleviating his symptoms." Trent's calm attitude turned the conversation back to a more suitable tone. "We take him down for a while and then gradually reduce the pressure by coming up very slowly, so we can meet up with the airlift schedule."

All eyes were on him, his words not so reassuring to Jason's hear nor to anyone else in the cramped corridor.

Trent continued, "That will buy us some time. Just till MEDEVAC is here."

Jason took a deep breath. "Will it work?"

"Technically-"

"Technically, yes," Ray interrupted Trent. "But is it safe?"

Trent's look was more effective than a thousand words. It was not safe at all.

Down there, Trent explained, they would not have any means of monitoring Clay's vitals other than his smart-watch, which could keep stock of his pulse and pressure, and they would not have any chance of inserting an IV or anything else if he needed so.

"We have no choice," Trent's cold tone was even more shocking than his look.

* * *

Wrapped up in his bubble, Clay felt the commotion rapidly rising around him. All of a sudden, the dreadful silence disappeared and confused voice reached his brain from a distance.

"Hey, Clay."Jason's voice made his young man open his eyes.

Coming to himself, Clay found all his teammates rounding him.

"C'mon, Kid, you're going down for a dive," his boss insisted, a hand on his shoulder.

Clay looked at him, puzzled. _Wasn't it a dive that caused me all these troubles?_ Moreover, taking a dive in such shortness of energy seemed impossible. Every single part of his body was against that plan of action.

"I... not... come..." Once again, Clay's thoughts couldn't translate in a proper sentence.

Frustration, panic, and sorrow all mixed up in Clay's heart. The air stopped halfway his throat, and he was caught by a coughing fit.

"Don't try to talk," Trent ordered him. "Just trust us. We know what we do."

Clay trusted his teammates with his life, that was out of question, but an uncertain glance Sonny threw at his mate made Clay flinch. He blinked, it must have been just confusion speaking. It must. He knew that despite the whines, the protests, and the teasing, Sonny trusted Trent and his team family with every fiber of his body, and so did Clay.

"Come on, Slacker. Time to get up," Sonny said and made Clay sit up, legs dangling from the table. Then he made him lift his arms to pull off his shirt.

For those few seconds Sonny took to complete that simple gesture, Clay had to take the oxygen mask off his face, and his chest started to burn and to itch uncomfortably again.

"Deep breaths, Clay." Trent put the mask back in its place. "Keep taking deep breaths, we got you."

Not knowing exactly what was happening around him, Clay surrendered to his teammates' orders and seconded their movements. Suddenly he was on his feet. If Jason hadn't strongly sustained him, Clay's trembling legs would have made him fall on the ground. And then... Sonny was pulling his pants down?

Clay frowned. That was an unexpected move. _What the hell are they doing?_ he asked himself, his words not coming out.

Suddenly, all the hands stopped moving on his clothes and body. Clay was now in his underwear, cold eyes staring at his body in an unreal silence. What was down his legs that made his teammates freeze? He tried to look down, but dizziness stroke him. One arm firmly grabbed by Jason, Clay put his free hand on the bed, feeling the soundness of the metal under the thick mattress while the ship rocked under his bare feet.

"You have decompression syndrome, Clay." Trent draw Clay's attention up to his eyes. "You remember you said it yourself?"

Clay stared, lips pursed.

"Nitrogen bubbles that formed in your body after this morning dive are threatening your life. To make them dissolve in your blood again we have to put you back under considerable pressure."

Clay panted, eyes fixed on Trent's lips, Jason's firm grip the only thing that held him on his feet.

"The best option to accomplish all that is to take you back underwater. That will buy some time until we can take you to an equipped hospital. You understand that?" Trent continued.

Brock appeared with a wetsuit in his hands, which he and Ray carefully started to put on him.

_Oh, that makes much more sense now_, Clay thought. _They previously said something about taking a dive, right?_ _How could I miss that?_

Clay had no other choice but completely abandon to his teammates' will, focusing on how much he trusted them. Unexpected pain struck as the guys cramped his legs in the wetsuit. His left tight burned while adjusting to the new cloth situation, and he turned a whine to another cough.

Chest burned, skin hitched, the fabric of the wetsuit uncomfortable on his skin. Clay's head was spinning while he felt his brothers' eyes on him, and asked himself what he had done wrong.

"Can you walk?" Jason locked eyes with Clay. He'd never stop sustaining him even after all the other hands stopped to touch his skin. He'd never left his side not even for a second.

Clay's pride wavered, thinking to say,_ Of course I can. _He swallowed, the only thing he was sure of at the moment was he had to be honest. Clay tried to say, _I can try_, but all he was actually able to put together was an indistinct murmur he himself didn't understand.

Breathing was getting harder every minute, and all he was aware of by then was his brother's presence and support at his sides. Before he knew, he was sinking his teeth in the mouthful piece of a regulator, and around him was only darkness.

A freezing sensation immediately invaded Clay, momentarily awaking him from the numb state he was in. The strong grip of two of his brothers kept him firmly anchored to them, only water for miles and miles all around.

Clay abandoned himself to the currents, leaving his body floating. Everything ached, everything seemed out of place.

The cold penetrated in his bones. The darkness made its way to his heart. A dreadful silence ate at his soul.

But he fought back. He had to fight back. His brothers were there with him. He could not surrender, he needed to fight for them.

* * *

**_Author's note_**_: I love so much the way the whole team comes together when one of their own is in danger. I really hope I managed to do it justice.  
_


	6. Chapter 6

The breeze prickled Jason's face while he stared at the spot in the middle of the ocean where his three teammates had disappeared. In a distance, the careless sun slowly started its inexorable descent.

Jason hated that the only thing he could do for his suffering brother was buying time. It should have been Jason's responsibility to keep Clay safe, but he failed. He failed him and now could do nothing concrete to help.

The weight on his chest got heavier as Jason recalled Trent's deep voice saying they needed to take Clay back underwater and how his severe look made him feel the urgency of the matter. As Bravo One, he was instantly ready to jump into action. Everyone on Bravo was, but the choice on who should actually accompany Clay and Trent in the depths came natural. Sonny's eyes had yelled his need to be at his brother's side loud and clear, and as much as it cost Jason to step aside, he couldn't really oppose to that.

As the waves produced by the boat wiped the ripples of the immersion from the sparkling water, Jason mentally retraced the steps that took them at that point. The infinite journey to come there, Clay's impatience to prove himself, the mission, the underwater fight...

Jason and Sonny had missed that Clay was in distress. They had missed that he needed help and they had left him behind until he was obliged to force the ascent. And then the whole Bravo Team had ignored his symptoms. The coughs, the blank stares, the dulled reaction time, and all those little signals they should have caught. That _he _should have caught.

It was all painfully clear now. Jason should have trusted his gut, and not Clay's words in which the pride hardly covered for the distress. But he couldn't put this on Clay. Every single team guy he knew, including himself, would have acted exactly the same. Not to mention how confused Clay was; he probably didn't even know how sick he was. Bravo could only blame themselves and hope they were not too late to help their brother.

Jason sat uncomfortably, his head all over the place while trying to steady his breath. When he glanced up to the deck of the USS Emerald, Commander Blackburn was on the satellite phone in the back, and Ray and Brock were gripped to the ship's rail, staring down. Jason could see Ray's lips rapidly moving and wished he believed in God as much as his brother did; at that moment they needed all the possible help.

The boat rocked softly under Jason, the waves that propagated from the big ship a bunch of meters away from him dictated the rhythm of his thoughts. The hardest part until this moment of helpless wait had been standing in the sterile infirmary and sustaining Clay's weight when he was not able to stand alone. But even harder than that it was sustaining his look- his blank and baffled look.

Clay was sharp and quick-thinking. _Usually._ He was determined and resolute. _Usually_. Seeing him so slowed down and insecure had been a knife to Jason's heart.

Then Bravo Team full force had walked along their brother in need; Jason had never left his side until he was forced to. He had left Ray and Brock on the USS Emerald and had stepped on the small boat with Sonny and Trent. If he could not go under with Clay, he still needed to be as close to him as possible.

As soon as Trent and Sonny had immersed in the ocean, Jason had put a hand on Clay's shoulder and had peered into his eyes. Jason thought he had seen fear in them, but looking back at it now, it was probably his own apprehension mirroring in Clay's deep blue, glassy eyes.

"Don't worry, Kid, it'll be okay. You'll be okay." Jason had said, nodding at Clay in all seriousness. Then he had helped him into the water and had handed him to Trent and Sonny. Clay's eyes had kept wandering around, he had kept breathing heavily through the regulator, seconding helplessly every movement his brothers made him do.

With the moon popping up despite the sun was still playing with the ocean at the horizon, Jason was left to face the most scaring thing in a SEAL's life: the powerless wait.

* * *

Making Clay step off the boat to reach them in the water was surprisingly hard. His difficulties in controlling his body were frighteningly clear and made Sonny's heart pump harder. But there was no time to waste, and as soon as Jason let Clay go, Trent and Sonny grabbed hold of him and started to dive. When the guys started their descent, the sun sank in the water with them.

The more they dived deep, the more the fiery reflexes of the sunset left its place to obscurity and coldness. Sonny was a born and raised Texan, he didn't have such things as oceans so close to his home. Where he grew up, they had dusty deserts. The call of the ocean had never had a strong appeal on Sonny, and he had always leaved that endless but insignificant expanse of water to those leaving on the coast. For sure, his beloved deserts were much better than that stupid wet and cold place they were now immersed in.

But he was down there because Clay needed him at his side, and that was an enough reason for Sonny to be ready to reach every hidden gorges that was necessary to reach.

Hooked to his friend's helpless right arm, Sonny kept diving until the three of them reached the right depth Clay needed to find some relief. Once settled, Trent, who was at Clay's left, signaled Sonny with a solemn nod they could loosen their grip on their brother.

Another thing Sonny hated about the underwater missions was that he could not communicate with words. At that moment, the only thing tougher than keeping his mouth shut was the sight of the pallid Clay floating around, completely abandoned to the currents.

Sonny gritted his teeth around his regulator, he was dying to say something to make Clay feel better, or at least to help him stay awake. But whenever Clay managed to keep his eyes open his look was lost and that made Sonny's blood run cold more than the freezing water all around him.

Sonny's finned legs kicked the water to not let the currents drag them away. Trent did the same, his hands around Clay's left arm to read his smart-watch. Sonny looked down, Clay's muscle were flaccid and weak. At that moment Sonny didn't know who among the two of them was more powerless.

Sonny's mind went back to the infirmary, to stripping Clay and facing the scars on his thigh. He had seen many scars before, he had had many brothers wounded, and he should have known what to expect. But this time, he didn't see it coming. Pulling Clay's pants down, Sonny had grazed Clay's embossed and reddened skin and his heart had gone back to that Manila street, to Clay's body lying on the concrete, blood pouring out his legs, eyes wandering lost. He was back to begging Clay to keep breathing. _Why the kid kept forgetting to breathe? _Sonny peered into the darkness to catch a glimpse of Clay's expression.

Sonny's heart skipped a beat, Clay had lost consciousness. He started to panic, but Trent was as still as ever, eyes glued to Clay's smart-watch. Sonny diverted his teammate's attention, he needed to know. Trent looked up to him, he hid it well, but Sonny was sure concern was there in his look.

Slowly, Trent put his hand out toward Sonny, his fingers well stretched out. _Calm down! _that gesture meant.

_How the hell can I calm down?_ Sonny tried to communicate to his teammates with his mind.

* * *

The ocean colored with amber highlights. That stunning sunset reverberated on the clear water and enlightened Jason's figure on the small boat. But Jason couldn't care less about the view, his focus was wholly on his three men still down there in the depths.

On the USS Emerald, Ray, Brock and Blackburn fought with their nerves. No one over the surface dared to interrupt each other thoughts and prayers.

The clock was ticking for the MEDEVAC arrival; Bravo just had to be patient a little more. For Trent's plan to be effective, they knew Clay had to stay down there every minute of the wait. All Jason could think about was that any minute now his teammates would start the gradual ascent, and in about one hour he would see Clay emerge. With no means to communicate with those underwater, that endless wait was hard to bear.

The time passed at a snail's pace. Now and then Jason managed to take his eyes off the water to glance at his mates on the ship's deck. Every time, one or two of them were aimlessly walking back and forth, but a sentinel was always looking down to him and to the deep ocean. Jason envied that freedom to move, from where he was, he could barely take two steps before risking to be thrown off board. But he would never change places with any of them because only there he was a little closer to Clay. Only there he could mend his previous lack of attention.

The light was rapidly giving place to the shadows, the warm air of the day was gradually transforming in a not so pleasant cool breeze. In Jason's mind those signs meant one thing: the conditions of the water could only worsen. He stretched his arm out to test the temperature of the ocean's surface, and a shiver crossed his whole body.

He immediately took his radio. "Bravo Two, this is One" -he looked up to his teammates on deck- "The temperature is dropping fast, and down there can only be worse."

_"We have thermal blankets and hot coffee up here ready for them,"_ Ray immediately replied, nodding at him from the distance. "_They'll be just fine._"

"_Airlift will be here in 30_," Blackburn radioed. "_They should be up here soon enough_."

Staring at the dark water, Jason regretted he let Sonny convince him to let him go down in his place. Clay was in danger and they would do anything to save him, but this wait was something he was not prepared to.

"I should be down there with them," Jason grunted over the radio.

"_Patience, Bravo one_." Blackburn voice sounded.

_Sniper breathing_, Jason thought, peering into the darkness.

* * *

Bitter coldness was the first thing that hit Clay while he slowly came to himself. Then there was a warm touch. His first instinct was to rebel to it, but as soon as he realized it was his brothers' touch, he instantaneously surrendered.

A spooky atmosphere surrounded him, with the weak beam of the flashlights hardly lightening his teammates' faces. First, he met Trent's relieved gaze. His warm brown eyes encouraged his heartbeat to steady. Then, he crossed Sonny's apprehensive look. There was nothing better than seeing Sonny's eyes lighting up while matching his.

And then there was the not so little details of the darkness surrounding them, the cold penetrating his bones, and the wetness all around. Clay cringed the regulator in his mouth, realizing his brothers were wearing one, too. _Hell, why are we diving?_

Clay looked his mates with quizzical eyes. All he had in response was Sonny patting him on the shoulder and Trent glancing down at the watch. Then the guys started to swim up, dragging him along. Instinctively, he started kicking his legs too, seconding their movements. They didn't cover more than a few feet that they already stopped.

Clay's chest felt heavy. He remembered the pain, the constriction, and the itch. He remembered the decompression symptoms eating at him. He peered through the darkness to inspect Trent's look, and he remembered his mate explaining him why they had to take another dive.

Sonny's hand lost his grasp on Clay's arm for a moment, a shiver crossing his muscled body. At the realization, Clay darkened. For his mistake, now two of his brothers were experiencing that extreme cold. They were suffering to keep him safe. That was unbearable, but he had no voice in the matter now.

* * *

Sonny didn't know exactly how much time had passed since they got under, nor was sure about how long it would take to complete the ascension, that was Trent's task. Sonny only knew he was freezing. If the more dreadful coldness came from the water or from his bones at the thought Clay could not make it, it was another thing he didn't know.

When Clay's baby blue eyes had fluttered open after being shut for so long, a warm light awakened in Sonny. The improvised therapy was working. Their troubles were not going to be wasted. But blame it to the weak lights or to the spooky atmosphere, Clay's appearance was not yet at its best. At least, however, he was awake and seemed aware of the situation, even though they could not communicate with words.

Trent kept monitoring Clay's vitals through the smart-watch and kept dictating the rhythm of their ascent while Clay fought hard with his weak muscles, a pained expression never leaving his face. In any normal condition, Sonny would know exactly what to do to make a smile appear on his brothers' faces, but this was far from usual. Sonny beat his tongue. He needed to joke around to defuse the tension, to poke Clay to make sure he was in the right state of consciousness, but he couldn't. He hated so much that he couldn't.

A shiver crossed Sonny's body, the damn cold water was consuming him. All of a sudden, it was Clay's right hand on Sonny's arm and not the other way around as it should be. It was like Clay could read his mind and his distress. That's what brothers do, support each other, be there for each other no matter what.

Sonny got lost in Clay's penetrating look, but suddenly it was like the light went off in them. Sonny felt another shiver running down his spine as he saw Trent agitating and gently slapping Clay in the face.

Clay had lost consciousness again. Trent put and hand on his neck, probably trying to sense his pulse. What the smart-watch had to say about Clay's vitals must not satisfy him.

A dreadful silence echoed in Sonny's head. Terror crossed his look when Trent resolutely signaled him that they must descend again. Only a few feet, but again deep down in the cold darkness, and the warm moonlight that seemed so close was now once again out of their reach.

It was working. At least before that moment, Sonny was sure it was working. They just had to swim up and put Clay on that stupid helicopter, then it would all be okay. With his flashlight, Sonny enlightened now Clay's ghostly face, now Trent's apprehensive expression, and none of them had a positive effect on Sonny's heartbeat.

_It must work!_ Sonny thought. _Come on, come on, come on!_ _Don't do this to me, Clay! C'mon, brother, I know you can make it. I know you _will_ make it._

* * *

**_Author's note_**_: Thank you so much for the support, I really appreciate it.  
This chapter was a little slow moving, I know, but I needed to dig in everyone's mind. Well, at least to try... I'm doing my best to keep up with everything. Thank you, and don't give up the hopes._


	7. Chapter 7

Light clouds veiled the sky over Jason's head while a crescent moon timidly lightened the fallen night. The half of Bravo Team who was above the water surface had their eyes glued to the dark ocean in an expecting silence. Only one thought was on Jason's mind: _it's time_.

But still no one emerged.

Jason held his breath, pointing his flashlight down. Only the loud sound of the approaching helicopter made his head turn up to the little stars slowly filling the sky. He glanced at his mates on the USS Emerald. With the poor lighting he could barely discern their faces, but their apprehension shone all the way through.

_Come on, guys! Where are you? _Jason's heart pounded. He wished he had gone down with Clay. Down there, he would have known what to do, but waiting up here was a different story. One of his hands clenched around his flashlight, the other hold the edge of the boat so tight that if his nails had been more sharp, he would have pierced it.

A ripple on the water surface caught Bravo's attention.

Two seconds after, still nothing. Jason's heart struggled. Ten seconds passed; the little waves became bigger. Twenty seconds_—_

His three teammates finally emerged from the obscurity. A sigh of relief left Jason's lungs; Clay was blinking, his eyes fighting with the flashlight pointed at him. He was awake and alert. And combative, too, just like they were all used to see him.

Clay was fine. Or at least he would be. It was like if a heavy fog had just lifted, letting Bravo see a brilliant future, lightened even more by the hope they would be all together soon.

As Jason dragged the fatigued Clay on board, the cold water splashed on the boat's floor. Clay was breathing heavily, but his blue eyes were wide and attentive.

"You okay, kid?"

Clay took the regulator off his mouth and attempted to reply, but Jason interrupted him before any sound vaguely resembling actual words could come out. "You sure it's a smart move?"

"Let him do," said Trent, lifting himself on board and splashing more cold water on Jason's feet. "His tank is nearly empty anyway."

When Sonny's turn to settle on the boat arrived, his body heavily landed near Clay. Jason peered at them through the darkness; his teammates were shaking even though trying to fight it.

"Just take us somewhere dry, Boss," Sonny said. "I've had enough of this giant arctic pool."

The weak smile that drew on Clay's bluish face flooded Jason with relief until the sound of chattering teeth took him back to his driving duties.

"Seems fine to me. A little frozen maybe, but you and Sonny seem to struggle just the same." Jason said to Trent. "You okay?"

Trent nodded.

"You think it worked?"

Trent glanced at his back and then moved closer to Jason, lowering his voice. "He's not out of the woods yet. Still needs proper medical attention."

"I can hear you," Clay said between clenched teeth. "Don't worry, you're not gonna get rid of me that easily."

"Shh, adults are talking. Save your breath." Sonny gently patted him on his upper chest while waiting for the boat to be anchored to the USS Emerald and lifted up.

"Helo arrived ten minutes ago," Jason said. "It'll take off as soon as we get him on board."

"Us."

Jason turned to Sonny, his ear tended toward him.

"As soon as you get _us_ on board." Sonny looked at his boss intently. "No way I'm leaving his side."

"I'm a big boy, Sonn—" Clay suffocated a cough, his hands scrunching in fists like as to fight with the fatigue.

All eyes instantly converged on him, the thick fog of apprehension filled the air again.

"Come on! It's just a cough," Clay urged, trying to lift up. "It's freezing here…" He laid back down, shoulder to shoulder with Sonny, craving a warm contact with his brother.

The boat trembled as it was secured, and Ray, Brock, and Blackburn rushed to it as if they were running from hell flames.

"Everything okay down there?" the commander asked, eyes fixed on his shivering men.

Trent hopped on the USS Emerald's deck and refused the thermal blanket Ray was handing him. "You couldn't expect Spencer to give us any trouble."

Glacial silence resounded in the night while Bravo's eyes squinted at Trent. Jason's body tensed while his attention turned back to Clay. With the lights all pointed to him, his pale face stood out as snow in the desert.

_And yet he seemed better, _Jason thought, reaching the others on deck.

Trent went on, "Nothing I couldn't temporarily resolve, guys, but_—__"_

_But it's better move__. _Jason nodded at him, his eyes rapidly going back to the ghostly figure of his young man still on the boat.

"Your chariot awaits, pretty princess," Sonny said, offering Clay a hand to get up.

The MEDEVAC was at the other end of the deck; the pilot was ready for the take off while an EMT was waiting for his patient.

"Come on." Jason nodded, his hand stretched out to help Clay and Sonny down the boat.

Clay looked around, eyes rapidly moving from place to place. His chattering and shivering from the cold quickly revealed to hide an unsteadiness in the movements, and if Jason was not there to catch him, he would have fallen face down on the metal of the ship's floor.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Sonny hopped down while all Bravo rallied to Clay.

"I'm fine." Clay wavered while silently insisting to stand alone, but the grimace on his face made clear to all who stood by that it was not the time to let him do.

"No way, bud," Sonny placed his wet body under Clay's arm and guided him toward the helicopter. "You're stuck with me."

"Sonny!" Blackburn's voice calling froze him in place right before he stepped on the helicopter with Clay.

"Let him go," Jason said flatly. "He's already done two immersions in a short time, no way he can dive with us to finish the job."

Blackburn stood stiff in his position, eyes fixed on Sonny. "Don't let Spencer out of your sight."

Sonny nodded, observing the apprehensive looks Bravo Team darted at the EMT securing Clay on board, and then he hopped on, his focus shifting on keeping his brother awake.

The guys could only step back and get down, so to not be hit by the rotors as the helicopter took off. The deafening noise seized the fear-induced silence. Jason stood among what remained of Bravo while the salty smell of the ocean, carried by the wind gusts, filled his nostrils. His eyes remained glued to the MEDEVAC until it disappeared behind the clouds in the night sky. His heart was heavy, but he could not stop to think about what just happened to his man.

"Come on, we still have a job to do."

* * *

Dry air made its way into Clay's lungs bringing along a strong smell of clean. His eyes fluttered open, but closed right away as the light hurt them. Clay breathed deeply, his chest felt like if a weight had just been taken off of it, and finally he managed to take a glimpse at the surroundings.

Grey metal walls, curving and cramping, were all around, and that room had... _portholes?_ There was a weird atmosphere there; some feeling Clay could not really name hovered in the air... _What the heck am I doing in a submarine?_

"Look at that, the Sleeping Beauty's finally awake!" A distant and muffled voice came. Sonny's voice. Of course. His brother always kept his promises, and he had promised to stay at his side.

A soft warmness caught hold of Clay's body. The tight and damp wetsuit had left its place to a short-sleeved hospital gown, and a light blanket rested on the top of him as like in a comforting embrace. _Definitely not a submarine_, he thought, turning his head around to see where his brother's voice came from.

"Hey, no. Don't try to get up, bud." The thud of an hand on glass accompanied those words. "Don't get me come in there," Sonny insisted.

Dizziness struck Clay. "Yeah..." He laid back on the not very soft mattress. "That didn't seem a good idea anyway..."

Sonny's bearded face looked down at him from the porthole. "Don't you do that ever again. Ever," he said in all seriousness.

Clay mumbled, clenching the sheets in his hands to stay gripped to the present.

"I really thought we were gonna lose you this time, brother. We all did."

Memories came back at Clay all at once. The fight underwater and the rapid ascent, his trouble breathing, the whole world spinning, the freezing cold, and then Sonny trying to drive him crazy in the back of the helicopter. But other than that… He must have lost consciousness at some point because after that there was nothing. Apart from the fact that he woke up in that kind of a metal tomb, two meters large and three meters long, and not much higher.

Clay still wasn't himself. "You mind fillin' the gaps?"

"Long story short? You messed up on your first mission back," Sonny said in a tone that could sound reproaching to anyone, but not to his brother, who knew him better than Sonny knew himself.

"Yeah." Clay stared at the chamber's ceiling while a bitter smile made its way on his pale face. "I'm well aware of that part." He soundly emptied his lungs before filling them deeply again. "How long do I need to stay here?"

Sonny scratched the back of his head. "The right amount of time."

"You're not very helpful." With his throat sore, Clay swallowed uncomfortably.

"Hey! I could be out there blowing up things if I didn't have to babysit you here."

Clay's eyes smiled. "No, you couldn't..." he said in a retrieved moment of lucidity.

Then he started to feel his eyelids heavy. Sonny's face was blurred, but he could bet his brother had one of his smirks directed right at him.

Clay tried to focus on the porthole. "Sorry if I ruined the fun for you..."

Sonny's heartbroken expression was the last thing Clay was aware of, aside from the weird sound of the voice saying something touching like: "There's nowhere I'd rather be, brother."

But it must have been only a dream, Sonny could have never been that fluffy to him.

* * *

What made Sonny hate hospitals was not the strong smell permeating the walls nor the weak lights, sometimes flickering like in the most splatter horror movie. It was more about the unsettling atmosphere that hovered all around. The sound of death could be heard in those corridors more than it could be heard in the battlefield. But unlike in the battlefield, there, he had no defenses.

However, there he was now, sitting in a room with another room inside it. _Like those stupid Russian dolls, what are they called… _Sonny tried to remember while his mind went back to a mission at the Ukraine/Russian border, long before Clay's arrival on Bravo, when he had bet with Brock that he—

A shiver ran down Sonny's spine at the sound of an alarm coming from the room at the other end of the corridor. Then it was silence, and as quickly as it raised, the commotion outside that weird room he was in dissipated.

No, Sonny wasn't afraid of hospitals, let nobody doubt that. He just hated them. A lot.

_And for a good reason,_ he thought while staring at the sleeping Clay through the curved glass of the porthole. That metal chamber that kept his brother safe reminded him of the torpedo tube he had been trapped in a full bunch of months ago, and that gave him a light sense of claustrophobia. That memory was so distant and yet so vivid in his mind, making him feel the chills every time he thought about it. But that didn't mattered now; what mattered now was Clay.

Clay had been inside that thing for a couple hours, then he had been taken out for a while, and again brought back inside. It drove Sonny crazy that his brother was in and out of consciousness so quickly that he couldn't have a straight conversation with him, but the doctor said it was just as thing usually worked with those kind of injuries and those kind of therapies.

But Sonny didn't trust doctors…

"How's he doing?"

Sonny jumped from the chair at the sound of that familiar voice.

"How's he doing?" Jason repeated as Bravo entered into the decompression chamber's room.

"Seems fine." Sonny glanced at the small room inside the room, his eyes suffering from the weight of the blue bags that judging from his mate's appearance must have marked his face too. "That's what they say."

Jason peered at him with a straight expression, silently asking, _are you sure?_

"His pretty face is definitely rosier than when we got here." Sonny said, trying to convince himself first.

They both looked through the porthole. Under his golden beard, Clay's skin was, indeed, of a more natural color, and his lips were not blue anymore, but his expression while asleep was not yet as relaxed as they expected it would be.

They turned back to Trent in a vain hope he would know something more, that the extra medical training he had could give him some advantage on them.

"You should see your own faces." As Clay's voice came small to their ears, Bravo Team rallied to the porthole, fighting with each other to take a peek inside.

"I don't have a mirror in here, but I bet you're all look nastier than me." Clay wore a cocky smile while his eyes opened to the sight of his concerned brothers.

"We always do, GQ. We always do," Sonny said while grins drew on his teammates' faces.

Clay didn't make the effort of lifting his head from the pillow while blinking slowly. _Maybe he couldn't_. Then he turned toward the porthole. "How did it go?"

Furrowed brows met puzzled eyes. _Could he still be confused?_

"The mission, guys." Clay licked his lips. "Didn't you had to go back down to the wrecks?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Jason grinned, meeting his men's looks as they all realized Clay wasn't confused at all; he actually seemed the more lucid among them.

"We went, we made our move, and left the ashes behind," Ray said. "Only Brock enjoyed it a little too much."

"Maybe we're not letting him out as much as his species requires." Sonny barked at Brock, his eyes smiling.

Clay's muffled laugh resounded, adding up to the rest of the team's chuckles. It would take a while before Bravo Team could feel whole again, but that little moment they were having was close enough to that sensation that filled their eyes with gratitude.

Blackburn's entrance put that feeling on hold, but only for an instant. He didn't have to say a single word; the doctor confirmed Bravo's impression on Clay's conditions, they could read it on his face.

Sonny looked around at his brothers' exhausted expressions. As the relief seized control of them, the fatigue of the last day spent diving in the freezing ocean and worrying about Clay started to weight on them all. Now, seeing Clay resting peacefully in his hospital bed, although closed in that hermetic giant box, they gradually started to settle down, too.

Everything that could go wrong with Clay's first mission back on Bravo had gone wrong; from there things could only go better. Sonny could read that hope on his brothers' faces, but he was the kind of guy who always expected the other shoe to fall, and valuing the situation, he was not too convinced they had a full pair on their hands already.

Bravo's chuckles and mockeries filled the sterile air, as if they were training at the base or chilling at the bar, but just like in the middle of the ocean winds change rapidly, in a flash, Clay's body started shivering uncontrollably.

Horror took hold of the guys' smiling eyes while Clay's rolled back. A sudden chill gave Sonny the goose-bumps and his heart stopped at the sight of Clay's torso jumping up from the bed.

"He's having a seizure!" Trent hurried off the room to find a doctor.

Bravo rallied to the porthole, ready to break in the chamber to step at Clay's side and calm his body down. Dread rapidly filled the air, creating a silence interrupted only by the thuds of Clay's body slamming on the thin mattress.

A man in scrubs rushed into the room and opened the first door of the decompression chamber, losing some time to force Sonny out of the way. Despite hating the idea of being trapped in that death tube, Sonny would have instantly jumped in if that meant helping his brother.

Jason put a hand on Sonny's shoulder, motioning him away to give the doctor some space to seal the door behind him. Through the porthole, the team stared at Clay's ghostly face in horrified silence while their hearts raced as they never did.

Clay's jaw clenched, his teeth gritted with an agonizing sound. The blanket slid off Clay's shaking body while all his muscles contracted.

"Do something!" Sonny yelled, punching the metal wall.

One minute felt like an hour. The pressure indicator slowly moved its little arrow until the pressure inside the part of the chamber the doctor was in matched the one inside where Clay was.

Clay's legs trembled, his knees bent, his heels made leverage on the mattress, his shoulder sank in the bed. The gown shifted, exposing Clay's thighs to the sight. Once again, the consequences of the Manila bombing were there under Bravo's eyes. The shadow of the possibility they could lose Clay weighed on their hearts.

The doctor reached his patient and injected him something, then rapidly moved his gloved hands to force him down, keeping him still. Clay grounded his teeth, his restrained body struggling to free itself.

_Take your hands off him_, Sonny refrained himself from saying. The man was trying to help; Sonny wanted him to do something after all, and like it or not, he was doing something now.

No one on the outside dared to even breath until Clay's exhausted body laid stone-still, just like the air all around seemed to suddenly be. _It worked._

"What the hell is going on?" Jason's voice resounded grave, demanding an instantaneous answer that didn't come.

The atmosphere was thick and a dreadful expectation feeling hovered in the room.

"It must be for the extra dose of pure oxygen they're giving him," Trent said quietly, drawing all eyes on him.

Clay's limbs were now abandoned heavily on the mattress, eyes quietly sealed and his expression not so tensed anymore. The doctor approached the porthole and looked solemnly at the SEALS. Sonny felt his muscle stiffening even more, hanging from the man's lips.

"Your friend will be fine. He experienced a known complication to the hyperbaric oxygen therapy," the doctor said in a thick Asian accent. "But it should have been resolved now. And if it happens again, I'll be right here."

Sonny couldn't feel completely relieved. "Isn't it better to take him out of that damn thing?"

"At the right time," said the doctor quietly. "We need another half an hour for this session to be complete."

_Half an hour and then what?_ Sonny asked himself, his hands itching.

Resignation could be breathe at full lungs in the room. Blackburn sat on the chair in a corner of the room, Trent, Ray and Brock silently settled on the floor, right next to the chamber, but Jason and Sonny could not take their eyes off their suffering brother.

"Look, there is nothing you can do now," the doctor said from inside the chamber. "It will be better for everyone if you go resting a bit."

Bravo Team peered at each other intently. Their eyes were red and weary, but their looks determined.

"We're not going anywhere."

* * *

_Yet another hospital room_, Clay thought, slowly opening his eyes to the new environment. New, but not unfamiliar. All the hospitals of the world looked just the same from a laid-down perspective. And smelled the same, moreover… Clay could say he had tested a few of them all over the globe already.

He was so sick of it. He wanted to go back to the field. He wanted to fight with real enemies, not the ones in his body; not the ones in his head. Clay only wanted to feel part of the Team and to operate side by side to his brothers again.

_His brothers…_ Clay looked around in search of them, his muscles were heavy and hard like if he had just completed an intensive training, and a metallic taste couldn't just leave his mouth. He soundly exhaled; his brothers were still there. Before he could abandon himself to the relief of the dreamland again, Sonny's sorrowful eyes met his tired ones.

Sonny jumped to his feet, and the rest of the guys mimicked his movements. In no time, Clay was surrounded by concerned faces. He felt their pain, _but why?_ The last thing he recalled was them laughing and joking outside the decompression chamber.

"What happened?"

Jason looked at him, puzzled. "You can't remember anything?"

Clay shrugged.

"You experienced some side effects of the therapy you're getting," Trent explained. "But you should be good now."

Hopeful smiles drew on Bravo, but puzzlement didn't leave Clay's eyes.

"You can't just avoid complicating our lives, uh?" Sonny hesitantly patted him on the shoulder.

"That's my job." Clay could not help but close his eyes; his body didn't give him a break. "Why else would you have chosen me as Bravo Six?"

"You wish we didn't?" Jason's voice sounded almost like he expected an actual answer, but the thought his boss could seriously believe Clay could ever wish something like that was just ridiculous.

A reassuring smile appeared on Clay's face. "There's nowhere I'd rather be."

"In an hospital bed?" Sonny scoffed while Bravo all looked at each other, relief hovering in the air.

"That's good," Trent nodded at Clay. "Because you'll have to stay here for a couple more weeks."

"Wha_—" _

_"_You'll need a few more cycles in the decompression chamber," Trent continued, "and after that, a few more days have to pass before they will let you fly 18 hours straight to come back to The States."

"But you're not gonna be alone, brother," Sonny placed his muscled body right where Clay could see it better. "This time I'm gonna stick with you, making sure they do things right. And that you behave."

"Like I said_" —_Clay's tired eyes sparked with gratitude— "there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

Bravo smiles were once again the last thing Clay saw before the dreamland claimed his conscience.

* * *

**_Author's note_**_: **That's it!** Thank you all very much for reading through until the end of the story.  
And thanks for your patience and your support while I was writing this. I did appreciate every single review and word of __encouragement I received throughout the whole story._

_The ending turned out a bit fluffy maybe… but I needed a fluffy moment to wash away all the pain I inflicted the guys._

_Clay feeling part of the team again despite he's not yet ready to jump back in action is something that I missed after the Manila bombing (although the storyline they gave him then was intriguing and deep enough), as it was Sonny and the guys being given the possibility to stay at Clay's side. The job comes before anything in the Military, and the guys have to follow orders, but I just thought that maybe this time they could give them a break and allow them to nurse their brother in their own special way._


End file.
